Fog Returns to the Capital

Chapter 55 What did it mean when he gave you a white jade pendant?
……

After leaving the club, Li Wu sensed that Zhou Jinghuai's aura had subtly changed.

But his expression was calm, no different from usual.

“Zhou Jinghuai…”

Li Wu couldn't keep up with his pace, so she jogged over and took his hand.

The broad, warm palm still feels so familiar.

Zhou Jinghuai stopped and looked down at her delicate little face. Her eyes were full of dependence as she looked at him.

There was a pause.

Zhou Jinghuai didn't say anything, but he tightened his grip on her small hand and slowed his pace considerably.

See this.

Li Wu let out a soft breath, and the slight, almost imperceptible tremor in her heart disappeared.

only--

Even after returning to Imperial View No. 1, Zhou Jinghuai did not let go of Li Wu's hand.

It was only at this moment that Li Wu could truly confirm that Zhou Jinghuai was indeed in a bad mood.

“Zhou Jinghuai…”

A sense of fear arose in Li Wu's heart, and she tried to pull her hand away. But Zhou Jinghuai seemed oblivious, and even subtly increased the force.

After entering the door.

Zhou Jinghuai walked steadily, seemingly unhurried, but without glancing to the side, directly towards the bedroom.

Zhou Jinghuai only let go of Li Wu's hand when he threw her onto the bed.

Zhou Jinghuai let go too quickly, and Li Wu lost her balance and fell onto the bed.

When Li Wu sat up on the bed, supporting herself with her hands, she was about to ask what was wrong.

As she looked up, she met Zhou Jinghuai's gaze, which was looking down at her.

Li Wu was so frightened that she immediately fell silent.

Zhou Jinghuai had never looked at her with that kind of gaze before.

—Cold, chilly, indifferent.

It was as if it had been soaked in shattered ice, without a trace of warmth.

But rather.

His demeanor was casual and indifferent, condescending, like a long-time superior—absolute, completely, and aloof.

Li Wu unconsciously clenched the bed sheet in her hand.

She felt a chilling coldness spreading from her feet upwards to her limbs and bones, making her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

Li Wu bit her lip tightly to keep herself from crying out of fright.

She had no idea that Zhou Jinghuai's anger could be so chilling.

It felt like a cold, sharp knife was held to your neck; you could clearly feel its chill and sharpness. Yet, you couldn't predict whether it would sever your throat in the next second. Blood splattered everywhere.

There was silence for quite a while.

Li Wu was so frightened that she couldn't bear it and curled up slightly.

Only then did Zhou Jinghuai's calm and quiet voice echo in the bedroom—

"You knew Xu Xiling before?"

When he spoke, Li Wu's whole body trembled.

"Well... the last time we met, and this time..." Li Wu's voice trembled as she spoke.

"You've only met him once, and he already postponed his dinner party for you?"

Although Zhou Jinghuai used a question, his tone was entirely declarative.

Xu Xiling's strong sense of time was something he had known since childhood.

If it weren't for the fact that he could calculate almost everything in seconds, he could do it all.

As soon as Zhou Jinghuai finished speaking...

Li Wu's pupils widened suddenly as she looked at him. It was as if a thunderbolt had exploded in her mind; she couldn't believe what she had just heard.

Zhou Jinghuai stood there tall and elegant, his aura still as casual and indifferent as ever.

The only thing he looked at was his cold gaze.

Even looking down at her naturally carried a hint of scrutiny and sarcasm.

That moment.

Li Wu bit her inner lip tightly with her teeth, her fingers unconsciously tightening as she gripped the bed sheet beneath her.

During the day, the words "Li Wu, my girlfriend" still made her heart tremble and filled her with uncontrollable joy for a long, long time.

She thought...

They're all the same, actually.

In the eyes of people like them, someone like her is nothing more than a trinket. Keeping her around is just for the sake of her beauty and novelty.

When we first met, he appeared so refined and noble, a gentleman of impeccable character, and as ethereal as a god.

But actually, they're all the same.

Li Wu didn't look at him again. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly as she lowered her eyes, trying hard not to cry. She didn't want to appear disheveled and miserable in front of him again.

"What? Have we met before? How many times?"

When Zhou Jinghuai said these words, he still spoke in a calm and unhurried tone.

But the tone of his voice was colder than anything he had ever said to her before. For the first time, it carried a hint of aggressive force.

Li Wu didn't speak.

He didn't speak.

She didn't know what to say. It was too absurd, too baseless, and she couldn't even offer an explanation.

It quieted down.

"Li Li."

Zhou Jinghuai still called her that same way, in a nonchalant tone, but every word was chilling, "You really are something..."

Just that one moment.

Li Wu, who had been holding back from arguing with him and not wanting him to cause trouble, finally couldn't hold back anymore.

She abruptly looked up at Zhou Jinghuai, her words brimming with uncontrollable emotion—

"Don't you know why he postponed the dinner? Is he your friend or mine? Is he giving you face or me face? You only blame me! All you know is to blame me!"

"I said from the beginning that I wasn't going, but you guys wanted to postpone it and wait for me. Is that my fault too?!" She was probably extremely aggrieved and extremely angry. Li Wu spoke these words without pausing for a single word.

Her tender little face was also tense, completely unlike her usual gentle and obedient appearance.

Seeing her angry and upset expression, Zhou Jinghuai paused for a moment before asking the question he really wanted to ask—

"Then what did he mean by giving you the white jade pendant?"

"What do you mean? He gave it to you, go ask him!"

Probably not expecting Zhou Jinghuai to have something else to say to her, Li Wu was so angry that she was trembling all over. "Besides, is that white jade pendant what I wanted? Can't I just give it back to him? I'll give it back to him..."

talking.

Li Wu's hands trembled as she rummaged through her small bag, trying to find the white jade pendant inside.

But I couldn't find it even after touching it several times.

In her haste, she quickly turned the bag upside down and emptied everything out.

Li Wu found the white jade pendant among a pile of small items, picked it up, and stood up to walk out of the bedroom. "I'll go return it to him now..."

Seeing that she really didn't care and walked out.

Zhou Jinghuai frowned, stepped forward and stopped her, his tone softening slightly, "I just want to ask you two questions."

For Zhou Jinghuai, such actions and tone were already a way of giving him a way out.

Li Wu knew this in his heart. For someone like him, bowing down and apologizing to someone was almost impossible, perhaps never even happened.

Li Wu stood there, not looking at Zhou Jinghuai, but holding the white jade pendant tightly in her hand.

See this.

Zhou Jinghuai frowned almost imperceptibly.

He rarely inflates prices for others.

But... whenever something is given to someone, no one has ever failed to immediately follow the path downwards.

It quieted down.

Zhou Jinghuai tried to soften his tone, "I'll just ask you two questions, can't you just explain them clearly?"

"Are you implying that you're just asking a couple of questions?"

Li Wu then looked up at Zhou Jinghuai, feeling truly wronged, and her voice rose considerably as she spoke, "You didn't even conduct a trial before convicting me."

"Besides, explain myself clearly? What do you want me to explain clearly?"

It's all baseless.

Since Zhou Jinghuai was born, no one had ever spoken to him in such a tone. Even his grandfather had patiently taught him since he was a child, never scolding him in the slightest.

Zhou Jinghuai's tone immediately softened, "So you're going to cause trouble for me now, aren't you?"

What did I do wrong?

When Li Wu spoke again, her voice was trembling with sobs.

From the moment he returned, he treated her with almost a scrutinizing gaze and tone, and now he's saying she's the one causing trouble.

I felt extremely wronged.

A layer of mist quickly and uncontrollably gathered in Li Wu's eyes.

My eyes were blurry with tears.

I only managed to hold back my tears.

Zhou Jinghuai was slightly taken aback when he saw the mist in her eyes.

It was different from when she cried under him.

He thought those tears were beautiful, and even wanted her to cry even harder.

Now, however, it just feels a bit glaring.

Actually, he was considered to have a good temper compared to her.

I never used the same tactics I used at the company in front of her. I thought she was still young, and my attitude towards her was much gentler and more patient.

There was a few seconds of silence.

"Okay, I shouldn't have asked you that."

Zhou Jinghuai's attitude softened first, and he raised his hand to wipe away Li Wu's tears.

But don't want to.

Before he could even touch her, Li Wu swatted his hand away—

"Don't touch me!"

Li Wu even reached out and pushed Zhou Jinghuai.

Instead of pushing Zhou Jinghuai, she herself took a step back due to the reaction force and fell directly onto the bed.

The moment Li Wu collapsed onto the bed, tears welled up in her eyes.

They fell down with a clatter, like beads from a broken string.

"If it weren't for you, would he have let me join his party? Would he have given me a white jade pendant as a gift?!"

"I've only met him twice, and you were there both times! I barely even exchanged a few words with him, and what else do you want me to explain! It's utterly absurd!"

Talking and talking.

Li Wu's tears fell even harder, blurring her vision. "Since I met you, who have I been completely devoted to? Who have I been willing to do anything for? Don't you know that at all?"

Zhou Jinghuai looked down at the girl sitting on the edge of the bed, crying her eyes out.

For a moment, I felt a complex mix of emotions that I couldn't quite describe.

But there was a two-second pause.

Zhou Jinghuai reached out and pulled Li Wu into his arms, letting her sit on his lap.

I reached into the bedside table and pulled out a few tissues, gently wiping away her tears that were still streaming down her face.

"Are you really that upset?"

Zhou Jinghuai sighed helplessly. Seeing that the few sheets of paper had quickly become soaked, he pulled out a few more new ones.

Li Wu cried until her eyes were completely red.

She turned her face away, intentionally avoiding Zhou Jinghuai's movements.

She must have cried a lot.

As soon as Li Wu opened her mouth, her voice was choked with sobs, "No matter how you see me in other matters, this is the one thing I can't say."

The last note fades.

Zhou Jinghuai paused slightly as he wiped away her tears.

(End of this chapter)